How To: Upholster a Chair

I’ve been searching local antique shops in my area for a chair for my daughter’s bedroom. I had a chair there which had armrests and wasn’t working with the floating desk -- the armrests kept bumping into the front. I had it in my mind to find a wooden chair that I could upholster and paint. I hit the jackpot...

I had the fabric all picked out already. A yellow and white damask to brighten up the area around the desk. When we first bought it the chair pad was pretty hard. I planned on adding some foam, then batting and then the fabric.

It was a simple job to unscrew the chair pad from the frame. I set the screws aside and got to work on the chair pad.The old padding and fabric were removed. I pulled the staples out or ripped the fabric if the staples were too secure.

I then cut the foam to match the outline of the wooden base. The batten was then stapled around the foam.

The next step was to add the fabric. I made sure the fabric was centered and then stapled that on as well. I placed one staple on each side while pulling the opposite side. Once all four sides were stapled, I created corner creases and stapled those down. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I was so busy stapling and folding!

I love the shape of the chair. I’m pretty sure I bought it for the legs and silhouette alone. It has a very sturdy yet decorative back as well.

The yellow damask in the corner of the room is a great addition to the corner by the closet-office. It adds some color and contrast but doesn’t block the view of the desk.